Camp Hard Coffee
Cold brew concentrate, whiskey, and a little coffee syrup, mixed in a mug after the walking is done.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 84
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 3 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Drink
- No cook
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Cold brew coffee concentrate | 2 tbsp | the shelf-stable liquid concentrate, or 2 tsp instant espresso powder |
|---|---|---|
| Whiskey or dark rum | 1.5 oz | decanted into a small plastic flask |
| Coffee syrup | 1 tbsp | the sweetened kind sold for iced coffee; maple syrup works |
| Cold water | 180 ml | |
| Salt | a pinch | cuts the bitterness of concentrate |
Method
- Pour the cold brew concentrate into your mug and add the cold water. If you are using instant espresso powder instead, stir it into a splash of water first so it dissolves.
- Stir in the coffee syrup and the pinch of salt until nothing is sitting on the bottom.
- Add the whiskey. Stir once.
- Drink it cold. If the night is cold enough that you want it warm, heat the water before the alcohol goes in, not after.
The canned version of this is malt liquor, cream, and sugar, and none of those travel. Concentrate, syrup, and a flask do. The whole thing is three small bottles and a mug, which is why it belongs on a trip at all.
The salt is doing more than it looks like. Shelf-stable cold brew concentrate is aggressive on its own, and a pinch flattens the bitter edge so you can use less syrup. Caffeine plus alcohol makes you feel less drunk than you are, so treat this as the drink it is: one, sitting down, after camp is set.
Packing
Syrup and concentrate ride in small leakproof dropper bottles inside a zip bag. Liquor goes in a separate plastic flask, never glass. Nothing here needs a cooler, so this works on a canoe thwart as well as a picnic table.
Variations
- Swap the whiskey for coffee liqueur and cut the syrup in half, since the liqueur is already sweet.
- A spoon of powdered coconut milk turns it creamy without a cooler or fresh dairy.
- Leave the alcohol out entirely and it is a cold brew with syrup, which is what you want at 6 a.m. anyway.
https://cornercoffeestore.com/what-is-hard-coffee-recipe